Konoha's Folly
by CptnCorr219
Summary: 16 years ago, the Kyuubi stalked the forests of Konoha, killing all who crossed its path. It died at the hands of the militia. Now it seems its back, and angrier than ever. The Konoha 11 are now on a mission to find the beast and slay it, with a little unexpected help. This is a horror story majorly, with a splash of romance.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everybody! In advance thanks for reading my story. Hope you like it. Now, as you all know, there are some things everybody who has ever written a Naruto fan fiction has had to go through. **

**I do NOT, nor will I probably everL, own Naruto. We all know who gets that credit. **

**In this story it'll be told by a narrator, who will speak like a narrator should****_._**** Don't worry. This won't last long, probably only this chapter and the last. Next chapter will be told in third person, from one of the characters perspectives. You guys can decide who.**

**Now without further ado, let's begin. R&R please**!

"Ah, hello there travelers. What brings to this old place, haven't you heard the stories? What? You haven't? Well then, take a seat around my fire and I'll tell you the story, the story of the demon that haunts these very woods. It goes by many names, Kyuubi, Kurama, Akuma Kitsune, etc. No matter what you call it, the stories are all the same."

"It's a nine tailed fox, hence the name. But it isn't one of those little orange animals that look oh so adorable. No this thing is the size of a large adult man, with each of its tails sixteen feet long, and it has a mean streak a mile wide. Nobody knows where it came from or when it arrived, just one day, it was there."

"It all started roughly 46 years ago. Deep in these woods is an abandoned village that was once the most prosperous village around. Until the Kyuubi. Anyone who tried to enter Konoha, be they travelers, merchants, relatives of villagers, they all died before reaching the village. Nobody inside the village was harmed, but as soon as they went past the village's border, they were fair game for the Akuma Kitsune."

"It got to the point where nobody traveled to the village for fear of death. The village was effectively cut off from the world, thanks to the Kyuubi. Finally, the leader of the village, Minato I believe his name was, decided enough was enough. He gathered the village's militia and set off into the forest to find the beast that had terrorized them."

"They didn't have to wait long before they found it. Maybe ten minutes. The militia engaged the beast, led by Minato."

_Flashback, 44 years ago. . . _

Men rush at the beast, spears in hand, attempting to stab it. But the fox uses its gigantic tails to fend them off before it jumps up and disappears, leaves rustling and branches falling as it jumps through the canopy.

The remaining militia men stand around panting from exhaustion, as two dozen of their comrades lay lifeless on the ground. Minato stands where the Kyuubi once was, staring up at canopy.

"Where did the bastard go?" he mutters to himself, before a loud, deep laughter surrounds the assembled men.

"Stay sharp!" he yells to his men, "It's coming back!"

They huddled together and stared out into the woods, spears at the ready, waiting for the fox to reappear. The laughing stops shortly after. Then silence consumes the forest. And then it starts.

Deep growls come from one direction and the men turn their spears to the sound. It stops. It starts again in the opposite direction and the troop's trip over themselves in their panic to face the enemy. The growling stops abruptly . . . only to be replaced by the same deep laughter of before.

"Calm down!" Minato rallies the men, "Get in a circle and stay that way dammit!" that way he can't surprise us."

It goes on like this for 5 minutes, the growling appearing in one are then stopping and moving to another one. And then it stops entirely. The silence is so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

Finally, one of the soldiers snaps. "Where the fuck is that thing!?"

And the laughter comes back, except this time it's all around them! The troops mutter and yell, daring the beast to show its face.

And Minato stands there, calm and composed and thinks. _Let's see, so far it's been toying with us, going from side to side, and panicking my men. But we've always been able to tell where it was. But this time we can't. So either it has a pack, which I doubt, or it's. . ._

"Everyone scatter! It's right above us!"

And in the instant all of the men start to dash outwards, the Kyuubi fell from the sky.

**Well, what do you think? This will no doubt be my shortest chapter. Stay tuned to find out what's gonna happen to Minato and his men.**

**Oh and before I forget, REVIEW! My life depends on it!**


	2. Showdown, Namikaze Vs Kyuubi!

**Alright I don't own Naruto, now let's begin!**

And in the instant all of the men start to dash outwards, the Kyuubi fell from the sky.

The fox lashes out with its tails, impaling men as it lands on the dark forest floor. The Kyuubi roars as it bites into a young man who attempts to flee from the giant beast. The young man, who couldn't be more than 18, screams in agony as the Akuma shakes him back and forth, tearing the poor man in half and tossing the two halves to opposite sides of the battlefield, cutting of the screaming instantly.

Minato stares hatefully at the beast as it massacres all around it, as it cuts a man into quarters with its sharp claws, as the top half of the young man lands at his feet, as the demon glares directly at him, daring him to try something.

Minato glares back. "This ends now."

And almost faster than the eye can follow, the brave man sprints forward, katana drawn and slicing at the beast, drawing blood as it attempts to crush him with one of its tails and he points it upward, the sword matching the tail, blur for blur, but Minato is quicker. The Akuma Kitsune's tail slams into the sword, and it roars in pain as the sword pierces into gigantic tail.

The beast retracts its tail, taking Minato's sword with it. It whirls away from a small group of men it was toying with and confronts Minato. They glare at each other before the beast lets out a heart stopping laugh. It doesn't pay attention to the gathered militia men, using its tails to smack them around and beat back their attacks.

"What's so funny demon?" Minato yells to it, not expecting the monstrosity to reply.

"You are, human," it says to him, shocking all gathered and causing the battlefield to fall into abrupt silence, with only the moans of injured men filling the air. Its unnatural deep voice causes a shiver to go up the courageous Minatos spine, "You amuse me. You think that this rag tag army can defeat the likes of me. And even better, you think you by yourself can kill _me_, Kurama, the greatest of all the demons!"

Minato stares coolly back at the Kyuubi, before replying calmly, "Well, Kurama, I don't care who you are. You have threatened my village and killed my people. And I will not stand for it. I will slay you here, for the sake of my village."

Kurama laughs again, "You've lost your sword human."

"You've lost your tail."

"Only one of them. Whereas you've lost your last puny defense."

"We'll see," Minato smiles. Kurama grins back, baring all of his teeth. "I like you human. What is your name? I'd like to know who I'll be feasting on when this is done."

"The name's Minato Namikaze and that isn't going to happen." And wit that Minato rushes forward, taking the Kyuubi by surprise with his speed, and he rams his fist into the fox's nose causing it to stumble back in shock. Kurama retaliates, slamming his remaining eight tails into the ground, attempting to hit Minato as he defends with a fallen mans spear.

The battle rages on, Kurama using his claws and tails to attack while Minato defends with spear after spear, as the Kyuubi breaks them one by one. Minato, sensing that he can't go on much longer, hurls his spear at Kurama, who uses his tails to absorb the attack. He roars in pain as it penetrates his tails and he roars even louder when he pulls the spear out, sending blood raining over Minato.

"This ends now Namikaze!" Kurama roars, before lunging and biting into Minato's chest. Searing pain fills Minato's body as the fox's large, razor sharp fangs dig into his chest, spraying blood everywhere. Kurama throws him down to the ground and Minato coughs up blood as he lands. He mutters something under his breath and the Kyuubi leans down and growls, "Come again, Namikaze?"

This time Minato speaks louder so that the Kyuubi can hear him clearly, "My name is Minato Namikaze, and I was about to say the same thing, Kurama."

And with that he plunges his knife into Kurama's eye, driving it to the hilt into the demon fox's skull. Kurama draws his head back and roars, blinded by Namikaze's attack.

"Now!" the dying man yells weakly to his men, who, after a moment of shock, rush forward with a raging battle cry and stab the blinded fox with their spears. Kurama responds too late. By the time he starts to fight back, he's already lost too much blood. He goes down, tails flailing, and the survivors retreat to avoid the dying demons wrath.

The Kyuubi, realizing that it doesn't have much longer to live, gives out a long, mournful howl, before finally falling silent. Close by, a softer howl is heard in reply. The men stare at the direction before facing it spears at the ready for this new threat. The sound of footsteps grows closer. A man binds up Minatos wounds. A rustling is heard in the bushes. A man prepares to throw his spear.

And then, a small naked boy, roughly two years old, with blonde hair and blue eyes, rushes into the clearing. He looks around at the armed men fearfully before his eyes fall on the Kyuubi lying dead on the ground. With tears in his eyes he rushes forward, and falls next to Kurama. He wraps his small arms around the Akuma Kitsune's neck and cries, while sobbing out, "Mǔqīn, mǔqīn! Xǐng lái de mǔqīn!"

Random muttering spreads across the battlefield, but the main one is, "What is that kid saying?"

One man, a veteran who had toured to other countries before settling down in Konoha, stepped out and faced the group, "The child is speaking Chinese!"

"So what's he saying" a wounded man asked, and his question was quickly copied by those around him. The veteran looks at the kid grimly before translating, "Mother, mother. Wake up mother."

Silence surrounds the battlefield, once again. Then the militia men start to yell furiously.

"Kill the damn kid!" "Kill the Demon brat!" and other such yells ring out across the clearing, but the child doesn't pay attention, but rather keeps his head buried in the bloodied orange fur of Kurama's neck.

"Wait!"

Everyone turns to see Minato standing shakily, clutching his chest as more blood rushes out. He stumbles over to the child and puts his hand on the kids back, who flinches at the touch but stays at the dead fox's side. Minato takes his knife out of Kurama's eye and stabs it into the ground.

"Nobody will harm this child. That is my final wish as Hokage. And you will tell nobody what happened here today regarding this child. Say you found him on the way back and nothing more." He turns to the child and coughs, feeling his end coming near. "It's ok kid, you're safe now. What's your name?" The kid looks up at him with tears in his eyes. The child shrugs. Minato smiles.

"Well then, your name is from now on Naruto. Live happily, Naruto." And with that, Minato coughs out more blood and then closes his eyes. His chest stops moving a few seconds later. And with that, the last of the Namikaze die.


	3. The Death of Naruto

**That's right everybody, Naruto is Kurama's son, and Kurama is a girl. Oh and for all of you who think Naruto's gonna grow up and massacre Konoha, think again. I got something in store for him. Nothing pleasant. Oh and who can tell me how many pups a fox can have? Mwaa-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa! **

**Shout out to antiyok, the first to respond in any way to my story. Thank you for reading!**

**Anyway, usual spiel, I don't own Naruto, no duh. R&R and enjoy!**

_3 years A.K. (After Kyuubi)_

Little Naruto, now five years old since the death of Kurama, was in a living hell. Or, put more accurately, a dying hell. Naruto has just found out what it is like to be stabbed in the gut. Naruto's life had always been bad, but this topped the cake.

Ever since he had journeyed to Konoha after the death of the Kyuubi, he had been treated differently. The militia men glared at him and would mutter stuff about demons and foxes when they thought he couldn't hear them. It had been like that since he could remember. At first it was just them, and then their families started it as well.

Then the villagers followed. It was at that point that his life became a true hell. He barely left his house anymore, except to go get food at his favorite ramen shop. He had gone twice in the past month. If he went out he never stayed 'til after dark and he stayed well away from all clubs and bars in the village. He had made that mistake once. When he was three. When the drunken mob left he had 1 broken arm, 3 broken fingers, 4 ribs, 27 stitches and a major concussion.

On occasion, the village leader, the one they called the third Hokage, would go with him to get food, so that the villagers would not harass the small child. The third was the only one to treat Naruto as what he was, a scared little kid, who was in constant fear of the very people he saw every day.

Despite the fourth's last request, the militia men had eventually told their families, and the members of the families told others, and so on, until everyone knew and hated the boy. One more than all the others. One who felt he had lost the most in the fight with Kurama. The boys name was Kabuto.

He had lost his mother to Kurama when she was returning to the village and his father during the fight. So when he found out about the demon's spawn, he immediately set out to find a way to get rid of thee child. He got his chance on October 9.

Naruto had "lost" his key once again. Lost meaning he had run from a group of particularly nasty kids and had dropped it in the process. And so he walked the night streets to the Hokage's tower, where he spent his nights when this happened (this wasn't the first).

He dashed from shadow to shadow, from alley to alley, hoping not to get caught by the unusually angry villagers drowning their sorrows in whiskey. Little did the poor boy know, he had his only shadow, and it was angry.

Kabuto watched his prey as it ran towards the safety of the Hokage's tower. _Not this time you demon brat,_ he thought as he chased the boy from the rooftops, knife in hand.

Little Naruto, face covered with dirt and grime, smiled for the third time in his life. The tower was in sight! He could finally be safe! He took one step towards the tower before he was pulled back into the alley, a hand covering his mouth.

He screamed into the man's hand as his assailant pulled him into the alley. Kabuto, realizing the guards outside the Hokage's tower might hear the boys scream, punches him, his blow cutting off the boy's air. Kabuto drags him down to the end of the alley and tosses him on the ground.

"w-why are you doing this to me?" Naruto sobs, frightened too much to act.

Kabuto glares at the boy, contradicting his joyous smile. "Because, gaki, you're a demon, like your mother. And demons belong in hell."

"I'm not a demon!" Naruto cries, "I haven't done anything to you!"

Kabuto just laughed. "Not yet, but you will. And I'm here to stop that." And with that Kabuto thrust his blade into the five year olds gut.

Naruto choked on the pain rising from his stomach. It was indescribable; he had never felt such pain in his life. It was like the time he got hit with a poker from the blacksmith, except all through his torso. Hot tears fell down his face as he sobbed breathlessly from the pain.

Kabuto smiled down at the child as Naruto writhed in pain helplessly. He twisted his knife and ripped it out of little Naruto's gut. _That should do it,_ he thought as he walked down the alley, sheathing his knife and leaving the demon spawn for dead.

And that is how Naruto got into his situation. He lays there, blood pouring onto the ground, gushing from his wound. And then he felt cold. The searing pain from his body faded as coldness spread throughout his body. His eyelids start to feel heavy and he lowers them feeling sleepy. The last thing he sees before 'sleep' takes him is a large fox, roughly his size, fall to the ground beside him.

_Heh, this is funny. That fox has five tails._ Were Naruto's last thoughts.

**That's right, I killed Naruto. I'll await the hate mail. Jk. But yeah, this is the third chapter, hoped it was on par with expectations. Alrighty then, that's it for now, I'll update in a few.**

**Review por favor!**


	4. The New Kyuubi's Message

**All right! Two reviews in four days! New record! Jk. But yeah I'd like to thank drannakka and Naruhinalover20 for being the first to review. I'm a bit surprised nobody commented on the 5 tailed fox, but hey, it's only a minor part. **

**I don't own Naruto *cries to self***

**Now for those of you who have been waiting for this chapter, let's begin!**

_18 years A.K. _

Konoha had changed much after the battle with the Kyuubi. With the shortage of adult male soldiers in the village, Konoha's military began taking recruits from both genders, and started training all their children to fight for the village. Life in the village had changed as well, for the better.

Ever since Kabuto had announced to the village he had killed Naruto, the village was without worry.

_Flashback, 3 days after the death of Naruto._

Sarutobi, the third Hokage, had gathered all the villagers to discuss the disappearance of Naruto. It had been 3 days since he had last seen Naruto, and to say the third Hokage was worried was an understatement. He had looked everywhere for the boy, even spending all last night in the boys apartment, waiting for him to come home.

He knew of the villagers' hate for the poor boy and he feared they had finally killed him. So he had gathered everyone in front of the Hokage's tower. He had ANBU stationed around the clearing so that if anyone tried to escape, they wouldn't get far.

He gazed over the assembled mass, all of whom grumbled about missing work time or sleep time. He cleared his throat to gain their attention and the crowd, gradually, fell silent.

"Now most of you are undoubtedly wondering why I have brought you here today. It has to do with Naruto." He said, his voice clearly ringing out across the clearing. Immediately after he finished the courtyard broke out into pandemonium. Varied shouts sounded from all over the clearing, but they all had one thing in common. They all wanted the demon brat gone or, even better, executed.

Sarutobi let it go on for a minute hoping that they would stop on their own, but when it was clear that wasn't the case, he yelled, "Quiet!" and they immediately stopped talking. The third never yelled. Ever.

"Now I know you all dislike Naruto, which is why I have asked you here today. Naruto has gone missing, and I want to know which of you is the cause."

Frenzied murmurs spread throughout the crowd, filled with relief, confusion, and worry. Relief because they didn't have to worry about the brat anymore, confusion by those  
who didn't know what had happened, and worry by those who thought he had run away and would return with a vengeance.

And as Sarutobi was about to ask again, a young voice topped his.

"I killed Naruto!" young Kabuto yelled at the top of his lungs from the top of a nearby rooftop. The crowd turned to him in shock. "That's right, I killed the demon brat. I rid us of the damn demon pest!"

The crowd looked on in shock before they broke out into yells of approval. One didn't join them. Sarutobi looked to the dog masked ANBU and said, angrily, "Get him."

With that the ANBU disappeared from the third Hokages side and appeared behind Kabuto. Grabbing the boy's neck in a head lock, he pulled him down from the roof and handed him to two other ANBU who were waiting below.

_Flashback end._

The villagers no longer had needed to worry about a fox so they had started to extend the village once more. They made farms on the land just outside the village, led by Kabuto, who by this time was let out of jail for murdering Naruto.

With Konoha's increasing military power, the skill level of their ninja, and they're use of both genders, they had less cause for worry about an outside force attacking them. The kids from 'Naruto's' generation had grown into fine young shinobi, all of them making it into ANBU by their 18th birthday, undoubtedly because of Konoha's new training program.

One of them, a young woman with long dark blue hair and white eyes, was currently waking up. Hinata Hyuuga had made ANBU only three months ago, but was already proving to be one of its most skilled members. As she got up from her bed she looked around her bare room. The only things that adorn her room are her closet and her mirror.

Hanging on her closet was her ANBU outfit, still clean from limited field use. While she had done few missions, they were all successes, as she and her teammates Kiba and Shino worked exceptionally well together. As she gets dressed she looks at her cat ANBU mask and smiles. _Who would've thought I would make ANBU?_ She thinks, not for the first time.

As she walks out of the Hyuuga compound, she notices a blur appear to her left and turns to see her cousin Neji standing there in his ANBU uniform, bull mask on.

"Hinata-sama, lord Hokage requests your presence in his office immediately. Do not keep him waiting." Her cousin says, his mask modulating his stoic voice.

"Hai!" she says, before dashing out of the compound and onto a rooftop, sliding her ANBU mask on as she jumps from rooftop to rooftop towards the Hokages tower. She rushes up the stairs and stops before entering as she composes herself. She enters and is surprised to see several other ANBU there, seeing 10 others there was not something she expected. As she takes her place next Kiba, who has his dog mask (well duh) on.

Tsunade, the Hokage after Sarutobi, looks up as Hinata enters and, when she sees all the ANBU standing at attention, ready for orders, she says, "Masks off ANBU." They comply, "We have a problem. I assume you all have heard of the Kyuubi no Kitsune? Good. Well it would appear it has come back."

The assembled, unmasked ANBU gasp, before one of them, a black haired man whose face seemed to have a permanent scowl, asked "What do you mean it's come back? I thought the fourth Hokage killed the Kyuubi."

Tsunade nods at the man, "Indeed Sasuke, you're right; the fourth did kill the Kyuubi, whose name was apparently Kurama. But it would seem that Kurama had children and that one of them isn't happy."

"One of them? What happened to the other?" said another black haired man, this one with a pineapple shaped hairdo, and an eternally bored expression on his face.

"Good question. From what I can tell, Kurama had two children, one of which was brought to the village after the battle against Kurama. He was stabbed to death by a man named Kabuto, whose parents were killed by the Kyuubi. And it would appear that the second child didn't like its brother dying any more than its mother."

"Um, hold on, Lady Tsunade," a pink haired ANBU said, confused, "How do we know the Kyuubi's children are here?"

"Well Sakura, have you heard of Kabuto, the first man to resettle beyond the village and start up a farm?"

"Yes ma'am."

"He's the same who killed Naruto. He was found murdered in his steadholt. His body was torn to pieces." Tsunade said as she showed the assembled pictures of the nine different pieces of Kabuto's corpse.

Had they not been ANBU, they would've lost their breakfasts all over the Hokages office. From what they could tell, Kabuto was killed, torn to pieces and then thrown all over the steadholt.

And the worst was the last photo Tsunade showed them. "This is why I think Kyuubi's child is angry."

The last was a photo of a wall, with words painted in blood. Kabutos blood. Its message was terrifying.

_I'm back_

**Well what'd you think? Review, everyone's welcome. Except haters. I just sprayed for haters. Stay away.**

**Alrighty then, 'til next time!**


	5. The Mission and Unexpected Visitors

**Alright everybody, here it is chapter 5! I would like to say before we begin, that while this may take a while for the next Kyuubi attack, there will be one and it will be bloody. That's what's missing from a lot of horror stories. Gore. We need more of that! Lol.**

**I don't own Naruto. Duh. **

**Now, let's begin!**

"So here's your mission," Lady Tsunade said to the assembled ANBU, "Kiba, Shino, and Hinata, you are to find the new Kyuubi."

"Hai!" they responded at the same time.

"Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru, once those three have found the beast, you'll be in charge of restraining it."

"Right! Got it! …Fine." They said, in previous order.

"Sakura, you're going to provide medical assistance, and Sasuke, your going kill it when they have it subdued enough. This has to be a fast operation; the last thing you want is a prolonged battle against a Kyuubi. It won't end well, but if it comes to that I'm certain that you can still finish the mission. Any questions?"

"Yes! Why are we going, Lady Tsunade? You have not yet told us our part of this mission. " asked Lee, interested in why his team was along for this mission.

"You're also there to take down the beast. If Shikamaru and his team somehow lose control over the beast, it's up to you to assist Sasuke. Remember, the last time we faced an Akuma Kitsune; it wrecked our militia and killed the fourth Hokage. The chances of it being able to do the same amount of damage are almost certain. And while I'm not afraid to die for this village I will not let my villagers die if I can prevent it. That's why I'm sending you 11."

"You have all proven, in the short amount of time in service, that you are the best ANBU we have. That's why I'm intrusting this mission to you. At all costs, you are to kill the Kyuubi, and if you can't do that, make sure it never bothers the village ever again. Shikamaru, you're in charge. You leave in an hour. Dismissed!"Tsunade yells to the assembled, before they Shushin out of her office, filling it with smoke, leaves, and . . . crows.

Tsunade stares at where they had once been and sighs to herself. _I hope I'm making the right decision here._

Hinata waited at the gates for the others to arrive. Everything she needed for this mission she kept on her person for rapid deployment. The others were all probably saying goodbye to their families and preparing food for the mission.

She didn't know why. With her and her teammates it wouldn't be long before they could find the Kyuubi. With them at ANBU level they'd find it in no time at all, maybe a quick scan and that's it. Then the real work would begin.

She waited there another ten minutes, right after the other. Her teammates Shino, who wore dark glasses and a jacket under his ANBU chest plate, and Kiba, who wore the standard ANBU uniform, were the first to arrive.

Lee, Tenten, and Neji came next, with Tenten's uniform the only one with any moderation to it. She had multiple scrolls attached to her chest plate and belt, and an extremely large one strapped to her back. They all stood in silence as they waited for the others to show up.

Sakura and Sasuke came not long after, Sakura, in her normal ANBU uniform following closely behind Sasuke in his black ANBU uniform. He had had his uniform custom made for him and his black ops mission types. Plus he was able to pull of the elite badass look he got from his uniform.

Last, as usual were Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, with Shikamaru bringing up the rear. They all had regular ANBU outfits and were all walking casually, or, in the case of Shikamaru, slowly, with his hands in his pockets and his head facing the sky.

"It's about damn time you guys showed up! What the hell took so long?!" Kiba yelled to them, angry at the three for delaying their mission.

"Doesn't matter now, let's just get started already." Shikamaru said, walking towards the Konoha forest.

"But you're the one we were waiting on!" Kiba yelled once more, before Shino calmed him down.

"Kiba, Hinata, and Shino, you three take point. Me, Ino and Choji will be right behind you guys. Neji, you and your team take rear, you at the very back. I want your eyes to make sure nothing sneaks up on us. Sasuke and Sakura, you're behind my team. Until we find the Kyuubi, you're job is to keep her safe. She's our only medic nin and we can't lose her. Understand?" said Shikamaru, to which he got 10 "Hai!".

"Alright then, let's go."

And with that, they set off into the forest. Surprisingly, things were not as Hinata had predicted, they walked for hours before they found something. Even with her Byakugan, Shino's insects, and Kiba and Akamaru's incredible sense of smell, they couldn't find anything. And what they did find was not what they were expecting. Not in a million years.

"Well hello there! I don't usually get visitors, so pardon me for not cleaning things up a little," said a young man, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and three lines on each cheek. Then he laughed. "Silly me, I forgot, this is a forest!"

**I know, I suck, cliffhanger. And before you all start saying 'Holy crap! Naruto survived!' I'd like you to think of who else in the Narutoverse looks exactly like Naruto and I didn't kill off. Think about it, think about iiiit!**

**To scarecrow: Glad that you're liking the story. The next two parts are gonna be just a tad messed up. At least that's my plan. J**

**Stay tuned and review! I'll be updating almost every day!**


	6. Legend of the Kyuubi and the Uzumaki

**Hello again everybody! Glad to be back. Please don't go 'OMG look who it is!' **

**You'll find out who it really is or isn't in the future. Be patient. **

**I don't own Naruto. Is there a limit to how many times I have to say that before everybody gets the idea? Oh I have an idea! Ok, from now on, if I don't say that I own Naruto or anything Naruto related, assume that I don't own it. YAAAAAY! Problem solved!**

**Now let's begin!**

"Well hello there! I don't usually get visitors, so pardon me for not cleaning things up a little," said a young man, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and three lines on each cheek. Then he laughed. "Silly me, I forgot, this is a forest!"

Immediately there were23 kunai, 14 shuriken, and one spear thrown at the man. He dodged them, admittedly haphazardly, but dodged them nonetheless.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he yelped, scared at how close he'd come to death, "L-let's not g-get hasty here! How about we discuss why you're trying to kill me over some tea or something?"

None of the Konoha shinobi budged. Shikamaru took a step forward, "Who are you?"

"Me?" the blonde said, smiling down from a tree at the people who had just attempted to kill him. "My name's Naruto. I live here in the forest."

"Shall I kill him?" Sasuke asked from behind Shikamaru.

He thought for a moment. _If this guy lives in the forest, and hasn't been killed by the Kyuubi, he's either friends with it or has found a way to avoid it. Either way we might need him._

"No, he could be useful." He replied, then turning to the man now known as Naruto, "We'll take you up on that tea."

Twenty minutes later, Naruto was passing out tea to the ANBU whose eyes never left him. Naruto had brought them to a rather large hut in the middle of the forest, not far from where he found them. They sat in silence for five minutes before Naruto decided to break the ice.

"Sooo, what brings you all here? I've never had visitors before." He said, a wide grin on his face.

Shikamaru caught right to the chase, "Naruto, have you ever seen a nine tailed fox in these woods?"

The grin instantly fades of the blonde's face. He speaks in a low, serious tone, so different from the loud, happy one he had used previously. "If you're here for that thing, I suggest you turn back now."

"We can't do that dobe," Sasuke replies angrily, "We've been sent to kill the damn fox."

Naruto laughs hard. Sasuke glares at him, "You don't think we can do it, forest brat?"

Naruto laughs again, "Hell no! I've seen that thing kill more things than any other in the forest. Hell, I saw some of its handiwork a few days ago at some town or the other. I used to go there to get tea. Place was in panic. Apparently some guy got killed there by the fox."

"Wait, have you seen the fox or not?" Kiba asks, getting a little annoyed by the blonde.

"Yep," is all he replies. The sit around for a minute, waiting for him to answer, before Sakura gets angry and punches him on the head.

"BAKA! We were expecting more than that!" She yells at the poor blonde, who's now clutching his head in agony.

"OW! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" he yelps. "I saw it once before, but back then it had 8 tails, not nine. But that didn't make it any less vicious."

"So then how'd you escape the creature?" Shino asks, surprising Naruto, who hadn't heard him speak yet.

"Well for one thing, it was too busy eating a couple of dear, so it didn't notice me."

"Wait, but how has it not noticed you since?" asked Shikamaru, "It would've smelled you, or at the very least sensed your chakra."

"A-also, why didn't I s-sense you with m-my Byakugan?" Hinata asked, cursing herself for stuttering. She hadn't done that in years. Why did this man make her feel so nervous and… giddy.

"Oh that? Well, I don't have chakra."

"WHAT?!" came the all around shocked reply. Nobody had _no _chakra whatsoever. If a person had no chakra they'd be dead!

"Yeah, I spent all my chakra masking myself from the Kyuubi." He said smirking at their shocked faces, pleased he could surprise them.

"Impossible," Neji argued arrogantly, "you can't live without your chakra."

"Good point. I do have some chakra, but it's so small and condensed it's hard to notice. And it's not all mine." The others look at him oddly when he says this, all feeling a mix of curiosity, disbelief, and… trepidation.

"When I ran into the fox I knew it was gonna be a problem. So while it was eating and still giving of bunches of chakra, I used my chakra and fused it with its chakra and sealed it into my necklace here," he holds up a necklace with a crystal with constantly swirling red and blue chakra, never mixing with each other.

"This way, it just senses it as its own chakra and ignores it. It also explains why you guys missed me. You were searching for a body filled with chakra, not a necklace." He laughs at the last part, and then looks to see everyone staring at him. "What?"

Ino turns to Shikamaru, "Is that even possible Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru looks closely at Naruto before replying, "It seems so. Although it'd be way too troublesome for anyone to try. Unless of course you needed it to survive. But that'd be a problem for most Jounin. Even most ANBU. Naruto, are you a shinobi?"

"Nope. Taught by my brother." He adds the last part sadly.

"W-what happened." Hinata asks, not liking how sad the young man in front of her is.

"He died a few years back. He was with me when I saw the Kyuubi. I think its chakra poisoned him."

"Its chakra poisons?" Shino asked thoughtfully. Naruto looked at him questioningly, "Yeah, why?"

"It would explain why my bugs haven't picked it up yet. If just its presence is poisonous, my beetles wouldn't stand a chance." Shino says in his usual monotone voice, "So far we haven't had any luck finding it. My beetles seem to have died when they found it and Kiba and Hinata haven't been able to pick it up either."

"What? Did you expect to find it as soon as you came here? Yeah right." Naruto laughed at their ignorance.

"What do you mean?" asked Tenten, offended at the way the blonde man was acting.

"My family's lived in this forest for years. And so have the Kyuubi."

"What do you mean 'so have the Kyuubi'?" Shikamaru questioned this time, trying to get as much information about Naruto as the Kyuubi.

"You guys think that the Kyuubi suddenly just _appeared _in this forest? Hell no!" he laughed scornfully, "The Kyuubi are everywhere in this forest. Well, were. A couple centuries ago my ancestors attempted to wipe them out. They hunted the Kyuubi throughout the forest. The eventually got it so that there were maybe ten Kitsunes in the forest. And only 86 of my ancestors left."

"And so, the head of my people made a deal with the Kyuubi, they wouldn't hunt the Kyuubi anymore and the Kyuubi wouldn't attack their people anymore. 20 years later Konoha was founded. And they weren't entitled to the treaty between the Uzumaki, my people, and the Kyuubi. My clan head attempted to convince the Kyuubi head to not kill the people of Konoha. The Akuma Kitsunes refused."

"And so, to save the people of Konoha, my clan went to war with the Kitsunes. We lost. But so did the Kyuubi. Two were left, along with five or six of my people. They only had 3 tails on 'em so my clan gave mercy. Worst mistake they ever made. When they reached nine tails one of them attacked my family. Killed all but my mother before it died. The other one was never seen. But you all know what happened to that one. It was killed by your fourth Hokage. And that's the story of the Uzumaki and the Kyuubi."

As he finished his visitors stared at him. All looking interested and surprised, except for Shikamaru and Shino. For the latter, it was impossible to see any change in facial expression because of his coat, and the former was deep in thought, already processing the information.

"So you and the Kyuubi have leaved here all your lives?" Shikamaru asked, eyes closed.

"Yep."

"And you and the Kyuubi are natural enemies then?"

"Um… yeah. Why?"

Shikamaru finally opened his eyes. "We need you to help us find and kill the Kyuubi."

**Well, what'd you think. I know, I'm really bad with the Cliffhanger no Jutsu. But that's OK. It's worth it. Review! C'mon ya know ya want to!**

**To drannakka: I know, I know, I suck. But hey, I got a major plot twist in mind. You'll see it in the next chapter or so. And I'll let you in on a secret; foxes can have up to six children. I won't have that many of course, hell I might just have Menma and Naruto. Undecided for now.**

**As usual, I'll be updating tomorrow.**


	7. Naruto Accepts

**Hellos again, let's begin. Hehe, I rhymed. Oh and just so you know, Naruto looks like he does in Shippuden. Except his jacket has an orange hood.**

Shikamaru finally opened his eyes. "We need you to help us find and kill the Kyuubi."

"What?!" everyone, excluding Naruto, yelled, all shocked by Shikamaru's sudden proposition. Naruto on the other hand, nodded and looked like he had been expecting the question.

"Sure, I'll help you guys." Naruto replies, smiling at his visitors.

"What?!" they yell again, before they pull Shikamaru outside and huddled in a circle.

"Shikamaru what the hell do you think you're doing?" Ino hissed at him.

"We need him. He knows this forest as well as the Kyuubi does. What we need to do is use his knowledge and make sure we know what the Kyuubi's going to do before it does, and that means using its enemy against it. Someone who it can't sense, who knows where it'll be and where we can hide if we need to. It's our only hope of finding the Kyuubi."

"You should've consulted with us first." Shino said, his creepy monotone voice somehow even creepier.

"Yeah I know you're team leader and all but-" Kiba started to say before being interrupted by Neji and Hinata "Wait!"

"What?" Sakura asks, looking a little frightened.

Hinata was the one that answered, "We're being watched." And then the second interruption that day occurred. They heard Naruto's yelling from inside the hut. "Fblthp? Fblthp where the heck are you?"

He walked outside of the hut, looking a little annoyed and confused. He turned to them, "Hey have you guys seen Fblthp? I can't find him anywhere."

Right after the branches over head broke and something small fell right into the middle of the huddled shinobi. They jumped back, kunai and shuriken and another spear at the ready. As they prepared to strike they saw what they were going to kill. And they were shocked to say the least.

What they saw staring back at them fearfully was hideous. It was a tiny, muscular little creature, with only a loincloth to cover its unmentionables. Its hands two fingers and a thumb, and its hand seemed to curl naturally towards its body. It had 3 toes as well, which seemed to be almost opposable. Its skin was a dull greenish brown. It had no neck and pointed ears. Its sharp toothed mouth spread across its face in a worried frown.

But most noticeable of all was its gigantic eye. What wasn't covered by its mouth was covered by its eye, which means it covered almost all of its face. Its eye color was green with traces of brown. And to top it all off, it was little over a foot tall.

They stared at the ugly thing (OK Hinata thought it looked just a tad cute) for a few seconds before Naruto noticed what they were staring at. "Hey there you are Fblthp. You weren't spying on our guests now were you?"

He walked into the circle of Konoha ANBU and opened his arms to the hideous creature, which promptly jumped into his arms. The creature identified as Fblthp buried his head into Naruto's shoulder. Naruto turned and saw the Konoha shinobi staring at him like he was insane.

"What?"

Sakura, who was not handling seeing that thing well, squeaked at him, "What the hell is that thing?!"

Naruto looked offended at the remark as Fblthp buried his head further into his shoulder. "This is Fblthp."

"Yeah we know its name but what the hell _is_ it?" Tenten hissed, keeping her voice down so as not to scare Fblthp anymore than possible.

Naruto looks down at Fblthp then back at Tenten. Then back at Fblthp. He scratches the back of his head as he laughs and says, "I uh, I don't really know."

"What?!" the Konoha shinobi yell, exclusions: Sasuke, Shino, and Hinata. The latter because she's still too nervous to trust herself to speak without stuttering.

Naruto looks around, confused by their reactions, "What? Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yeah you baka!" Sakura yelled at him, there was just something about him the irritated her, "You have some disgusting creature in your arms and you don't even know what the hell it is!"

And then Naruto disappeared. The ANBU looked around startled, wondering where he had gone. They didn't wonder long. He reappeared right behind Sakura, one of her own kunai pressed to her throat. Immediately all weapons were unsheathed, and Sasuke had his Sharingan activated and ready to blast black fire at the forest man.

And so the Konoha ninja and the blonde forest man, who still had Fblthp in his arms, stood at a standstill, waiting for the other to make a move. Naruto nodded to them and slowly retracted the kunai and as soon as it was clear Sakura jumped towards her friends. Naruto tossed the kunai to Sakura before walking back into the hut.

"Come in when you're ready," he said over his shoulder, "Oh and Sakura?"

"Y-yes?" she replied, still scared at what had just happened.

"Insult Fblthp again and you will know what it's like to bleed at my feet," and with that he walked back into the hut and went into one of the rooms, leaving the shocked shinobi to stare at where he had once been.

"The hell was that about?" Kiba yelled, angry at Naruto for scaring him and mad at himself for letting a forest brat scare him.

"More importantly, how did he do that?" Shikamaru thought out loud. It immediately silenced the mutters and murmurs of the other 10.

"What should we do, Shikamaru?" Choji asked, wishing he had a bag of chips to ease his mind.

"We ask him about it tomorrow. We need to rest if this guy's really able to lead us to the Kyuubi."

The others nodded in agreement and went inside, each going to their own makeshift beds.

**Good lord my hands hurt! Whoever can guess where Fblthp is from gets +2 points! Review!**


	8. Hinata's Insomnia

**Hello everyone! I'm back! See queen serena? I updated like you said! Please don't hurt me!**

**Hahaha, anyway, let's begin now.**

_Time skip 4 hours later, 0137_

Hinata couldn't sleep. She didn't know what it was about being in this forest, but it unnerved her. She stared up at the nearly full moon, marveling at how well you could see the night sky out here. She was so focused on the sky she didn't notice the other person standing right behind her.

"Beautiful, isn't it." Naruto asked, and laughed when she went 'EEP!' "I get the feeling you can see it better out here than in the big city of Konoha."

Hinata, for her part could only nod, still too startled to speak.

Naruto chuckled again, "So what are you doing up here, Hinata right?"

"H-h-hai." She stuttered, and then cursed herself. Why the heck was she stuttering!?

Naruto stared at her for a moment. "Well?"

"W-what?" came the shy reply.

"I asked what you were doing out here all alone."

"O-oh." She blushed, angry at herself for forgetting what he said, "I um, I c-couldn't sleep. So I came up h-here."

"Hehe, yeah I like to come up here sometimes too. It's really relaxing." He sat down next to Hinata, legs splayed out in front of him, arms spread behind him. They sat quietly beside each other, Naruto staring at the sky carelessly, Hinata staring at her feet blushing.

Something about this man made her feel as though she was 14 again, nervous and giddy at the same time. She just couldn't stop stuttering. And she hated herself for it. Yet she couldn't bring herself to be mad at the man who was causing it.

Naruto on the other hand was having problems of a different sort. _I like her. She's not loud like the others. She's nice, if a little weird. It's a shame, really. I could like her._ Just then he remembered why he had come out here.

"Hey Hinata, you seen Fblthp?" he asked, scratching the back of his head as he smiled self-consciously.

"N-no, sorry," she said, "But I can help. Byakugan!"

As she looked around she was startled to find Fblthp standing 5 feet behind Naruto. She yelped as she whirled around to face the creature, which in turn whimpered and ran to Naruto. Naruto twisted around just in time to see Fblthp jump into his arms. He laughs and stands up with the hideous creature in his arms.

"Hey there Fblthp I was wondering where you were. You weren't inside. What've I told you about wandering off?" Naruto gently scolded him…her…it. It in turn whimpered again this time a little more drawn out and with different pitches in the middle of it.

"I know you don't like crowds but come on, they're all asleep!"

Hinata stared at him, surprised, "Y-you can understand it?"

Naruto turns and laughs, "Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"All it's doing is whimpering. It doesn't make any sense." She said, confused as much by Fblthp's whimpering speech as she was by Naruto being able to understand it. In her confusion she forgot all about her nervousness.

"Huh. That's odd. It makes perfect sense to me. Must be in my blood or something." Naruto said a hint of seriousness in his voice. Hinata missed it.

"Hm. I'm curious about something, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, thinking nothing more of Fblthp, instead of the event that happened earlier.

"Yeah?"

"How did you do that thing earlier? Where you disappeared and reappeared? How did you do that without chakra?" she honestly wanted to know. The fact that he didn't have chakra and lived _and_ seemed to be able to use jutsu just didn't make sense to her.

Naruto, who had been smiling up until then suddenly got serious. Hinata didn't think it looked good on him. It seemed unnatural. He set Fblthp down while saying to Hinata, "Let's talk about that one tomorrow Hinata. It's getting late. If we're going to find the Kyuubi tomorrow, you're going to need your strength," then turning to Fblthp once more, "Fblthp, show her the way ok? And then you go to sleep too. That's an order."

Fblthp nodded and walked up to Hinata shyly, big eye looking up fearfully. Hinata started following Fblthp before turning to face Naruto. "What about you, Naruto-kun? Aren't you coming?"

Naruto, who had been deep in thought, broke out of it and smiled at her. "Don't worry Hinata. I'll be down soon. I…I just need time to think things out for a bit. Then I'll head right in. Besides, I don't need much sleep. I got energy to spare!" he said, adding a grin and a laugh to the last part.

She didn't know why, but his smile put her at ease. She nods and smiles back, before following Fblthp back into the hut.

Naruto watched her leave and smiled. Then he jumped onto the roof. He looked around until he saw a flash in a large bush nearby. He stared at the bush until he saw something large stand up out of it. The only thing visible was bright, blood-red eyes, with black slits for pupils.

He stared at the creature and it stared back. A low growl was heard from the huge beast. He stared at the beast for a few seconds more before saying to it coldly, "Let's go."

It stared at him for a second before turning around and running away.

He watched it run before saying, "As I thought. Run fox run. We're coming for you."

**Interested as to what you guys think will happen now that we've found out that the fox ain't Naruto. But remember, I've got a whole bunch of twists in mind so keep an open one. So send those reviews and we'll see which one of you is right.**


	9. Kyuubi's Fun

**Alright everyone I'm back. Now, let us get started! Oh and to Naruhinalover, I haven't even begun to show what Naruto can do.**

_Later that night_

The Kyuubi stalked through the forest silently. Its strong powerful muscles rippled as it prowled through the forest. Its tails lashed back and forth as it arrived on a clearing, standing above a steadholt. It watched as the newly appointed guards tried to stay awake.

They had been appointed because of him. When he had killed Kabuto a few days ago the people of the steadholt had panicked. They had rushed to protect the village from this new threat. And the fact that that fifth Hokage had cut off the steadholt from the village to stop Konoha from panicking was just an added bonus.

Of course he would've liked to kill some leaf shinobi, but that didn't matter. Besides, there were more at that hut in the woods. Although they might be trouble if they were sent by themselves to kill him. Besides, soon, all of Konoha would suffer for what did to his mother and…

As the guards left an opening in the defenses (nobody said they were good at what they did) he sprinted the distance the 100 meters between him and the steadholt, the distance covered in seconds. He leapt on top of a nearby house, landing silently. Or so he thought. A guard who just turned the corner starts scanning the rooftops, looking like he's about to piss his pants.

The Kyuubi doesn't let him. Seeing that he could give out an alarm, the Kyuubi stalks behind the young guard. Then he purposely steps on a twig. The guard stops suddenly, standing still in fright. The Kyuubi chuckles silently to himself as he slowly moves 7 of his tails forward.

An acidic smell fills the air. This times the chuckle moves past his lips. The guard just pissed himself. He can't hold it in any longer. The Kyuubi laughs as he uses his other 2 tails to snap the poor man's neck.

And then the Kyuubi starts to change. It shrinks. Or at least that's how it appears. His tails start going back into his body. His fur starts to disappear to be replaced by skin. His claws draw back into his hands and feet. His body changes to match a human man.

And his face changes most. It shrinks, flattens, and grows smoother. When it's done, a naked man stands where the Kyuubi once was. The man has blonde hair, blue eyes, and three lines going down each cheek. "Now to get started.

_0823 Later that day._

Fblthp stayed behind Naruto as he passed out food, while Fblthp handed out cups of tea. When they were done, they went into the huts kitchen. It really was a big hut. Could barely be classified as a hut. Only thing that did was that it had no running water or electricity. And it had a dirt floor. And wooden furniture. Barely any at that.

When Naruto came back out, Fblthp was not with him. Nobody noticed except Sakura, since she was still a little scared of what would happen if she mistreated the hideous _thing_.

"Where did Thbltpth go?" she asked, utterly mispronouncing Fblthp's name.

"_Fblthp_ went to the nearby steadholt. It's where we get our food." He said, casting a tiny glare Sakura's way.

"The steadholt where Kabuto was killed?" asked Shikamaru, interested in the mention of a steadholt.

"Yeah, and that's where we're headed today." The blonde replied, going out of the room. When he came back out he had a katana strapped across his back, handle sticking out over his shoulder. "If we're to go after the Kyuubi, I suggest you get ready. These things are masters at death, nothing tops them. So bring you're a game. I lead you to it; you help me finish what my ancestors started. Deal?"

Shikamaru looked at the others who all nodded before replying. "Deal."

"Alrighty then, let's get going." And as Naruto and the others were about to open the door Fblthp bust through and ran straight to Naruto, whimpering urgently. Naruto listened for a moment before looking back at the Konoha shinobi with a grave look on his face.

"No need to rush anymore. Everyone at the steadholt has been slaughtered."

Twenty minutes later they arrived at the clearing 100 meters from the steadholt. The smell of blood was heavy in the air. And the Kyuubi's paw prints were easily visible on the dirt covered clearing. Naruto gave the track a once over before walking down calmly to the eerily silent steadholt.

The others followed, except for Kiba and Akamaru, who stopped by the paw print to try to get a smell. What they got was a nose full of evil chakra. They gad and coughed as they caught up with the others, Naruto was inspecting a dead body while the others waited for Kiba.

As Kiba approached the group Neji called out, "Well? Did you get a scent?"

Kiba shook his head, looking like he was about to throw up, "Hell no! There wasn't a scent there!"

The others looked shocked by this. "What? How's that possible? We all saw the tracks," Choji said, astounded at how well the Kyuubi was evading them.

"There is no scent! It's just-"

"Chakra," Naruto interrupted Kiba. "From what little I could learn about the Akuma Kitsunes from the Uzumaki scrolls, they're beasts made of chakra."

"But that doesn't explain why Hinata couldn't find them. Or Neji for that matter. This beast is turning out to be way too troublesome to track alone." Grumbled Shikamaru. He had spilt his tea that morning. Needless to say he was in an even worse mood than usual.

Naruto looked at him and nodded. "Exactly. This means that it's somewhere you're not checking. Funny thing about foxes. They tend to make their homes pretty deep in the ground to protect them. And I'm guessing, because the Kyuubi are just gigantic foxes, that they burrow even deeper into the ground. But I'm guessing you won't find it with Byakugan even if you did look underground. Something tells me it won't be caught that easily."

"So what do you suggest, Naruto?" Lee asked, itching to find the fox already.

"Well first we need to find its den," Shikamaru answered for him.

"Hey! You stole my moment," Naruto pouted, earning a laugh from everyone there. Except Sasuke and Shino. Of course.

And so they set off through the village. Looking for signs of the den, and purposely not looking at the grisly spectacle of the dead bodies. Naruto couldn't seem to care. After all, death was a constant in the forest.

Sasuke decided to break the silence and the tension, if only to get Sakura off of his arm. "So dobe, why did you spend so long on that first body?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder to talk to Sasuke, "Because that one was different."

This time it was Shikamaru who asked. "What was different about that dead body from these ones?"

Naruto was silent for a moment. "That one's neck was snapped. From what I can tell, the others were all cut up. The Kyuubi's tracks were right behind him, meaning he snuck up on him. But the Kyuubi stepped on a twig."

"So? The guy's still dead right?" Sasuke asked, not understanding where this was going.

"The Kyuubi never steps on a twig, teme. Which means it did it on purpose."

"Why would it do that?" Kiba asked, totally lost on the conversation. Sasuke and Shikamaru had figured it out.

"Well if you all would stop interrupting me I'd get to it!" Naruto yelled, just a little miffed (major sarcasm). This earned a 'dobe' from Sasuke to which he responded 'teme'. "Well, judging from the fact that the guy pissed his pants _prior_ to death, this Kyuubi is a sick bastard who loves the fear his victim's feel."

"So we're dealing with a sociopathic fox that enjoys watching his victims suffer." Lee said angrily, "I cannot wait until we are face to face with this fox so that I may make it pay for its crimes!"

"Wait a second," Ino said, looking around, "Where are all the children?"

Everyone looked around surprised. They had been too busy _not_ looking at the dead bodies they had only just noticed that there weren't any children around. At all. Naruto looked to Shikamaru. The both had grim looks on their faces. A moment later Sasuke joined them.

"What? What the hell happened?" Sakura yelled, angry and just a little scared and Sasuke's even more so grim face.

The trio looked at her and then the rest of the shinobi. It was Shikamaru that spoke to them. "The kids are missing. So either they managed to get away or…"

"Or What Shikamaru?!" Sakura yelled gloves on and ready to punch something.

"Or the Kyuubi brought the children with it."

**Whew! Longest chapter yet! Awesomo! Review my peeps! Loljk. Oh but do review. They're my source of nutrition.**


	10. The Den

**Chapter 10!**

**Hello everyone. How's it goin? Before we begin, I'd just like to say thank you for reading this far ahead. It means a lot, really. Now how about a joke? No? Maybe later then.**

"Or the Kyuubi brought the children with it."

The gathered ANBU agents stood quietly while the soaked in the information. If the children ran away it would be better than they could ask for. But if the Kyuubi took them, it'd make their job a thousand times harder. Not only would they have to worry about killing the Kyuubi, they'd have to worry about keeping the children safe and getting them out of there.

It lasted a few minutes before Ino turned to Shikamaru, "So what's the plan? This changes everything."

"I know, give me a few seconds. This is way too troublesome," he replied, more than a little frustrated. He sits down on the ground and meditates for a moment before his eyes pop open.

Everyone looks at him expectantly, with the exclusion of Naruto, who's just walking around aimlessly, obviously tired of waiting. "Okay, here's the plan. Lee, you're the fastest, so I want you to get to the village as fast as possible. See if the children made and if they haven't, tell lady Tsunade to send reinforcements."

"Got it!" Lee shouts, before dashing off in the direction of Konoha, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

"Naruto, you know these woods best, so I need you to take Kiba and Neji with you and find that fox's hole. While you're at it, take Sasuke with you as well, in case you run into the fucker."

Naruto nodded and started to walk away with his team.

"I'm not done!" he yelled at the blonde. Naruto groaned and walked back, a bored look on his face. "When you find the hole turn right back around. Do _not_ engage unless _absolutely_ necessary."

"All right all right, I get it. Can we go now?" Naruto groaned, hating not being able to do something.

"Yes,"

"Wait!" Hinata half shouted, "Why can't I go with Naruto-kun?"

Everyone stared at her little outburst, obviously surprised. _Naruto-_kun_?_ thought both Ino and Sakura, _where did that come from?_

"Because, Hinata, we need you here to make sure the Kyuubi doesn't ambush us," Shikamaru told her, like you would a small child.

"O-oh," she said, looking a little crestfallen.

Naruto turned to her and gave her a big grin, "Don't worry Hinata. I get the feeling that we'll be needing you for a bigger role soon. You're still going to get to do something so don't worry," He said, apparently not getting why she wanted to go with them. At least until he went up close to her and whispered in her ear, "And don't worry, I'll come back safe for you, _Hinata_." Adding emphasis on her name to which she went "EEP!" and turned as red as a tomato.

Naruto laughed at this and started to walk off into the forest, Sasuke followed by Kiba, Akamaru, and Neji trekking after him.

Sakura turned to Hinata, "Hey Hinata, what did Naruto say to you?"

Hinata, who had started to fade back to her normal color, turned red again and hastily said, "N-nothing!"

The others looked at each other skeptically before Tenten sighs and says, "Forget it guys, she isn't going to tell us."

_With Naruto and his team_

Naruto walked quickly through the forest, the shinobi following closely behind. As they had started off, Naruto had told them that they wouldn't be able to find the hole by simply searching for it.

_"This thing is smart enough that it's been able to avoid you guys," _Naruto had told them,_ "So, instead of searching for _it_, we need to look for its chakra. That's something it can't hide easily. Trust me on this; it fills the air wherever it's been"_

And so they walked through the forest, Naruto bringing them to the most possible places for a den, and them searching for its chakra. They had had two false alarms where they had found its chakra but no den. Each time it sent shivers up their spines.

Naruto had, admittedly, gotten bored with the search. It got to the point where he walked with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. _After all,_ he reasoned, _I know these forests better than anyone. It's not like- _"AAUGH!" he yelled as he fell down into a large hole that had appeared at his feet.

He fell down the hole, rolling and flying as he fell, until he came to a sudden stop where the hole curved to a stop. The ANBU quickly jumped in after him.

"Naruto, you idiot! You alright?" Kiba yelled as he reached him.

Naruto stood up, dusting the dirt from his pants and jacket. "Yeah I'm fine. But who the hell put a hole there! It wasn't there a few days ago!"

"Hey dobe, take a look around," Sasuke said to him, just a tad shocked at his stupidity, though it didn't show.

Naruto did. He didn't like what he saw. Surrounding them was a cave network. In every direction there were cave openings which were each easily 7 men wide. They looked like they had been there for months, even years. And each of them was well marked with gigantic fox paw prints.

And to make matters worse, the murderous chakra of the Kyuubi was fresh in the air.

"Neji!" Naruto hissed to him.

"Already on it. Byakugan!" Neji scanned the area and saw just how complex the den was. This was not the work of a hasty animal. This place was carefully crafted, obviously taking years to build. And the other thing he saw filled him with relief and fear at the same time.

"The Kyuubi isn't here," he told the others urgently.

"Whaddaya mean the Kyuubi isn't here?" Kiba asked, half shouting.

"I mean it's not in this den, but it was a little while ago. This means it just left."

"So," Sasuke said, a contemplative look on his face, "where did it go?"

"Exactly," Neji replied.

They stayed silent while they tried to think. Kiba and Naruto looked at each other and then back at the other two, waiting for them to come up with an answer. And suddenly they had it.

"The others!"

_With Lee_

Lee was halfway to the village when he saw something that shocked him. He stood, unusually still and silent before yelling, "What the hell?!"

**Yay! Chapter 10! Whoop whoop! Glad that's done. Now how about that joke? I read it in another story and I absolutely loved it. The joke and the story. I believe the story is called something along the lines of Maiden from the future or something like that. Now here's the joke.**

**How was Pain born?**

**With an Almighty Push!**

**Lol, never gets old. Well, 'til next time.**


	11. Reinforcements

**Welcome back dear friends and readers! Over 1,500 views! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!**

_With Naruto and co._

"We gotta hurry guys!" Naruto yelled as they sprinted through the forest. Well he sprinted. They barely seemed to be jogging. He noticed this after a minute of running.

"Guys, you go ahead, I'll just slow you down!" he yelled to them.

"But what about you?" Kiba yelled back, Akamaru barking alongside him.

Naruto just raised his necklace, "I got this remember? Just go I'll be fine!"

The shinobi nodded and jumped into the trees, leaping from branch to branch and quickly leaving Naruto behind.

_Meanwhile, with Shikamaru and co._

"How long are they gonna take?" Tenten complained for the tenth time since the others had left.

"For the last time Tenten, I don't know!" Shikamaru yelled at her, uncharacteristically angry.

"I just wish there was something we could do," Tenten sighed, looking depressed.

"Well then go get Sakura and Hinata to help you fortify the steadholt's main house. It'll be our base of operations,"

"Okay! Finally something to do!" Tenten nearly yelled, quickly getting up and telling Sakura and Hinata to help her.

5 minutes later they were nearly done fortifying the downstairs and were about to move to the upstairs.

Sakura turned to Tenten, "Hey, why aren't Ino, Choji, and Shino helping us?"

"Because," Tenten replied, finishing boarding up a window, "Choji's moving the bodies to the other side of the steadholt and Ino and Shino are on lookout for the others and the Kyuubi. Why?"

"Oh, just filling in a gap for some story that some guy's writing," Sakura replied happily.

"Oh, ok"

"Hey guys, I think we're about done in here," Hinata said to them, her stutter magically gone now that Naruto wasn't around.

Each of the windows had been boarded up and small wooden spears sticking out of the cracks, courtesy of Tenten. The two tables that weren't broken now hosted a barrage of spikes, again provided by Tenten, and were on their sides on either side of the door. Underneath all the walls were hundreds of kunai in 3 rows so that if anything went through a wall it'd step on them. Again, courtesy of Tenten. I swear, she has a fetish for weapons or something. And she packs tons of them (literally) into those little scrolls of hers.

And the best was the door which had two hundred shuriken thrown into the door. Except the door wasn't where it was supposed to be. It was connected to two ropes, one on the ceiling directly above the door, and the other connected to the ceiling a few feet away. And when this one was cut it would swing the door that was covered with shuriken into whoever was going through the doorway at that moment.

(A/N: Now you guys may be wondering how the bloody hell they did all this in 5 minutes, and you'd be right to wonder. And my answer to that is, they're ninjas. Get over yourself.)

As they moved upstairs they heard a commotion outside.

"What the heck is that?" Sakura asked and when the other girls shrugged they went downstairs. When they stepped outside they were shocked to see Lee and the others surrounded by dozens of Leaf Village shinobi.

"The hell?" the girls exclaimed in unison before rushing over to Lee. Tenten looked around and saw Shikamaru and went to him, followed closely by the others. "Hey Shikamaru, what the hell is this? Why are all these guys here?"

Before Shikamaru could answer, however, a shinobi with white hair, a mask covering his mouth and nose, and his headband covering his left eye spoke for him. "I think I'd be better able to answer that."

"Kakashi-sensei?!" the three exclaimed in unison, once again.

Kakashi continued as if he hadn't heard them, "A group of kids from this steadholt came into the village this morning crying about a nine tailed fox. Lady Tsunade couldn't keep the Kyuubi under wraps any more so she decided that she might as well send reinforcements," Kakashi looked around for a moment before turning back to Shikamaru, "By the way, where's the rest of your team?"

Instead of Shikamaru however, it was Sakura who answered, much to Shikamaru's annoyance, "They went with Naruto to find the Kyuubi's den. They should be back soon."

At the mention of Naruto's name Kakashi tensed up, "Naruto?"

"Yeah!" Shikamaru rushed, determined not to be interrupted again, "He's a guy we found in the forest yesterday. He's been helping us find the Kyuubi. Why?"

_No, it can't be the same one. He died… right?_ Kakashi thought to himself before replying, "Oh no reason, just didn't know that you guys were getting help. So this Naruto," Kakashi began before being interrupted by Kiba's yelling, "Thank kami you guys are all right!"

Everyone looked at them quizzically before Lee asked, "Of course we are all right! Why wouldn't we be?"

It was Neji who answered this time, "We found the den, but there was no sign of the Kyuubi. We thought it had come for you all. It's good to see you all are okay."

"Wait!" Hinata yelled suddenly, "Where's Naruto-kun?"

"He decided to let us go ahead," Sasuke said, "After all the dobe can't ninja sprint like we can."

"But what if the Kyuubi finds him?" she said, honestly worried for the dumb forest man.

"It won't remember? He has his necklace," Neji reassured her.

Hinata visibly calmed down and this made Kakashi even more curious. _Who is this Naruto and how did he get a necklace that hides him from the Kyuubi? How's it even possible? Well Hinata likes him so he can't be too bad, but still._ And as Kakashi was about to ask more about Naruto, they all heard a shout from a few feet away.

"Thank kami, seems you guys made it in time!" Naruto yelled, drawing the attention of all the shinobi.

"Hey Naruto, about time!" Kiba yelled to him.

_Wait, this is Naruto?!_ Kakashi thought as he visibly tensed up, _that, that's not possible!_ And as Naruto got 10 feet away from the Konoha ninja, Kakashi threw his kunai, his aim directly for the center of Naruto's forehead.

**God I love cliffhangers!**


	12. Naruto and the Kyuubi

**Thanks to Naruhinalover20 who helped me with my story. Seriously, thanks. Now, let us get started.**

And as Naruto got 10 feet away from the Konoha ninja, Kakashi threw his kunai, his aim directly for the center of Naruto's forehead.

And it stopped an inch away from his face, his left hand grasping the handle of the kunai and his right on his katana, ready to fight. Naruto glared at Kakashi as the Konoha ninja looked between the two.

Naruto broke the ice, "Who the hell are you? And what do you want?"

Kakashi lifted his headband, revealing his Sharingan, before answering, "The name's Kakashi Hatake. And you're the Kyuubi, correct?"

The Konoha 11 gasped and looked at Naruto, kunai and shuriken sliding unconsciously out. Naruto looked surprised at this, extremely. "What are you talking about? My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm not the Kyuubi."

Kakashi's normally placid face broke out into a sad glare. "Naruto died 13 years ago."

"What? You mean the Naruto that Kabuto killed is this Naruto?" Ino asked, looking at Naruto fearfully.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, that Naruto did die. And that Naruto had blonde hair, blue eyes, and three lines going down each cheek. But he _did_ die."

"So that means this is the Kyuubi's brother, right? The one we were sent to kill?" Sasuke asks, his Sharingan activated and ready to kill the forest man standing before them.

"Wait wait wait!" Naruto protested, fearing for their lives. "I _am _Naruto Uzumaki! I swear!"

Shikamaru stared at Naruto thoughtfully, "Prove it."

"What?" came the chorused response from those around him.

"What do you mean? How can I prove that I'm me?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Take off your necklace."

Naruto stared at him, eyes wide. "I can't do that, I'll die!"

"It's the only way Naruto. We'll see if you really are who you say you are."

Naruto looked at them, pleading silently to not make him do this. He saw no mercy in the ninjas gazes. He sighs aloud; he didn't want to have to do this. He grabs his necklace, swirling crystal shining brightly in the sunlight.

"What's that, Shikamaru?" Kakashi asks, but its Naruto who answers.

"This is the necklace my brother died helping me create. It conceals me from the Kyuubi." He looked at the Konoha ninja, looking sadly at each of them. His eyes lingered on Hinata, but only for a moment. So short a moment she wondered if it had actually happened.

Sighing once more, he crushed the crystal. And as he did a blast of pure chakra knocked all the ninja back a few steps. Blue chakra circled around Naruto, covering him in a deep blue light. It did this for several seconds while the Konoha ninja looked on. Finally it slowed to halt and swirled into a seal on his stomach, which looked like a giant spiral painted on his skin.

When it was down Naruto flopped to the ground, exhausted. Nobody moved to help him. "How does this tell us if he's the Kyuubi or not?" Kakashi asked, not understanding what had just happened. Again, Naruto answered instead of Shikamaru.

"Look up."

They did. And what they saw confused them. 15 feet above them (4-5 meters) was a gigantic mass of blood red chakra. It was almost half the size of the village. And keeping it in place was a very thin, almost unnoticeable layer of blue chakra.

"What the hell is that?" Kiba asked the question on everyone's minds. All looked at Naruto but he didn't answer. He just lay there, staring at the chakra with a distant expression on his face. Neji activated his Byakugan and looked at the chakra sphere.

"None of that chakra is Naruto's," Neji said, gaining everyone's attention.

"What do you mean? Whose chakra could it be?" Shikamaru asked, looking between the chakra sphere and Naruto, who by now was standing.

"It's my brothers. And the Kyuubi's. My older brother gave his life to hide me from that thing. His chakra is the only thing stopping the Kyuubi's chakra from rejoining its body. But he can't hold it for long." Naruto told them before holding out his hand. "Watch where the red chakra goes."

And with that the blue chakra went like a lightning bolt into Naruto's hand, gathering until it was a giant sphere of chakra the size of a building. But nobody watched as he put the chakra ball to his stomach and absorbed it.

Instead their eyes were focused on the red chakra, which, now free of its blue constraints, went out of control. It moved in every direction, spikes appearing one moment and then disappearing, only to reappear in another place. And then, as quickly as it had lost control, it gained it again. It stopped moving entirely. Silence filled the ghost town as they watched the chakra slowly go to the ground and roam, as if looking for something.

Then it found it. It reared back before plunging into the earth creating a hole the size of a building as it dug through the earth to reach whatever it had found. The ground trembled as it dug, and many of the gathered shinobi fell to the ground by the sheer force of it.

And then it stopped. Naruto rushed to the outside of the hole, a look of pure panic written on his face. The Konoha 11 walked warily to the edge, Kakashi leading the way. They noticed Naruto's panic stricken face and looked down into the hole. Nothing happened.

"What was the point of that, Naruto?" Kakashi asked and all the shinobi looked at the very scared young man.

Naruto looked at them and said, hesitantly, "T-the red ch-chakra was supposed to go s-straight to the k-Kyuubi."

"But all it did was go straight down." Kiba half shouted, oblivious to what was going on.

Sasuke, Kakashi, Shikamaru and Naruto all looked at him and said simultaneously, "Exactly."

And, from deep inside the pitch black pit, the ground started moving as a loud noise filled the air. The ground around the pit started to crumble and all the ninja jumped back. Naruto calmly back away. Fear gone, and a determined look on his face.

"W-what was that?" Sakura yelled, looking fearfully at the pit.

Naruto looked at her calmly before taking out his katana, which had an orange handle and a black blade.

"That was the Kyuubi. And it finally knows where I am."

**Well, there we are. Chapter 12. Hope you enjoyed. Now how many of you thought Naruto was the Kyuubi? Bet you hate me now. But hey, it was a cool plot twist.**

**Remember to review! **

**'Til next time, the Captain.**


	13. The Kyuubi Bond

**Ok everyone here it is, chapter 13! Like to thank all who reviewed, thank you very much. Oh and to Dark Kitty Mate, all will be explained in this chapter. Maybe in the next as well. And to guest, yes, they fudged up. But hey, it is somewhat understandable. Now let us begin.**

**To queen serena chiba, I wish I had an attack Kyuubi. Make my life a lot easier. XD**

**Now let's begin! Can't wait for the Kyuubi hunt!**

"That was the Kyuubi. And it finally knows where I am."

"Why are you so important to that thing?" Shikamaru asked, not taking his eyes off the pit.

"Because, my brother and I stole a large portion of its chakra. Imagine if I did that to you. How would you feel?" Naruto asked staring into the hole, katana held loosely in hand.

"So what now dobe?" Sasuke asks his own katana out and his Sharingan reactivated and staring into the hole.

"Now we wait for it to climb up the hole." Naruto said just as another roar shook the ground.

"Tenten, we need spears, now!" Shikamaru yelled, taking control of the situation. "I need everyone to grab a spear from Tenten and get around the hole. I want to give that thing a warm welcome. Stab it as soon as it gets within range!"

As the shinobi complied, Naruto walked over to the Konoha 11. "Please tell me you guys are more prepared than a couple of spears."

They glare at him before Shikamaru answers, "We weren't expecting it to come out of the ground right in front of us."

Naruto just smirks at them, "Now whose fault is that? Not mine."

"All he said was to take it off, not break it you idiot!" Kiba yells at him furious at the blonde's stupidity.

"If I had taken it off it would've killed me, you bloody moron!" Naruto yells back at him, before another roar sounds, this time closer. The ground shakes around the pit and the shinobi start to mutter and grip their spears tighter.

"All right everyone, here it comes, get ready!" Naruto shouts taking control of the operation. Surprisingly no one disobeys him, getting ready to stabs whatever pops out of the hole. Except for what did.

A gigantic fox with red slitted eyes popped out of the hole, roaring at the gathered shinobi and using its 27 foot long tails to knock them back before they had a chance to strike at the beast. It popped out of the hole, roaring at the gathered shinobi and using its 27 foot long tails to knock them back before they had a chance to strike at the beast. The upper half of its body was the only thing showing from the hole, and even then it was as tall as Kakashi.

It roared again as it slashed at the ranks of shinobi with its claws and kept them at bay with its tails. Its head went down as it bit down on a Chunin, his head disappearing inside the Kyuubi's mouth before the beast tore it from his body. As it turned to deal with the Konoha 11, who it had been successfully stalling, it froze when it saw one of them step forward.

Naruto stepped forward, katana grasped with two hands in front of him. "All right Kyuubi. We both know how this is going to end. So let's just get this over with."

It stared at him in quiet shock before it whispered, its deep voice causing the ground to shake, "**Naruto?**"

Everyone gasped and looked at Naruto, who was equally shocked. "How do you know my name?"

It looked at him in shock before it narrowed its eyes and growled, "**Never mind human. I mistook you for someone. Who are you?**"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," Its eyes widened and it visibly flinched. "Ah, so you know of the Uzumaki."

"**I may not be able to kill you, Uzumaki, but you will suffer, I swear it on the life of my brother!**" it shouted at him before backing up into the hole and disappearing into the darkness.

When it had gone the shinobi looked to Naruto. "Naruto, what was that about?" Shikamaru asked him and Naruto looks at him grimly. "Let's talk about it at the headquarters, ok?"

_The headquarters, 5 minutes later_

They were all sitting around the table on the second floor when Naruto started to explain. "Ok, remember when I told you all that the Uzumaki were Kyuubi hunters? Well, there's a reason why they were. The Uzumaki and the Kyuubi are, well, linked I guess you could say."

"Linked?" Kakashi asked, "How so?"

Naruto looked scared, almost embarrassed to tell them. "Well, you see, the Kyuubi can't kill the Uzumaki and the Uzumaki can't kill the Kyuubi. Hehe….."

"What?!" they all yelled.

"I thought you said the Uzumaki hunted the Kyuubi!" Sakura yelled, getting up from the table to punch the idiot in the head.

Naruto waves his hands frantically, trying as hard as he could not to get hit. "Wait! That was a bad choice of words!"

"You think dobe?" Sasuke interrupts him, glaring at him with his Sharingan on.

"What I meant is that the Kyuubi can't kill the Uzumaki and the Uzumaki die if they kill the Kyuubi."

"You'll die?" Shikamaru questioned, shock evident on his face, "How?"

"Well, I guess it'd be best if I explain the whole thing. You see, the Kyuubi's chakra really is poisonous. But a single clan was able to live alongside them. The Uzumakis. In fact they were able to develop a bloodline for it. You see, every time a Kyuubi would harm an Uzumaki the Uzumaki blood would react to the Kyuubi's chakra and start healing itself almost before the wound was there."

"Wait, but you said that the Kyuubis killed the Uzumaki," Hinata said, "But if the Uzumaki heal immediately how could they die?" the others nodded, wondering the same thing.

"I was just about to get to that. You see, over time, the Uzumaki and the Kyuubi became bonded. Both sides had children on the same day. And those children were often twins for the Uzumaki. Well, when two were bonded, that's where the Uzumaki found they're weakness. If the Kyuubi dies, then the Uzumaki whom they're bonded to die as well. So the relationship is where the Kyuubi literally can't kill the Uzumaki and the Uzumaki can't kill the Kyuubi without dying."

They sat in silence as the shinobi absorbed the information. Then Kiba had his first intelligent moment. "Wait didn't you guys say that the Kyuubi Naruto died at the age of 5?"

Kakashi looked at him, "Yes, why?"

"Well, if Kyuubi Naruto died then Naruto or his brother would've died right?"

"Right. But my brother didn't die 'til we were 8." Naruto answered, wondering where this was going. Shikamaru and Kakashi had figured it out already.

"So that means Kyuubi Naruto didn't die," Shikamaru said. "And that means that it's still out there somewhere."

**Well, what'd ya think? I know this is shorter than some of my other chapters but with the Kyuubi hunt coming up I'm a little preoccupied. Anyway, review! So yeah, Naruto can't kill one of the Kyuubi. I wonder how he'll know which one he can kill.**

**Review! The Captain commands it!**


	14. Author's Note Read Me Dammit!

**NOTICE! IMPORTANT PEOPLE!**

**I have hit a little writers block. Ok, I've hit a large one. And it's killing me. When we last left off, Naruto and Co. were getting ready to fight the kyuubis. and that's all I've got so far. And so, after much self-deliberation, I've decided to leave the decision up to you guys, the readers. NOTE: THE MOST REPLIES WILL DECIDE THE WAY THE STORY GOES.**

**We can either continue on with the way it's currently going, or I can go back and change something. The former will take longer, due to writers block, while i already have a rough chapter ready for the latter. Either way, it's up to you guys. i'll give the votes a week. Now review! I got no idea what to do. Or pm me. whichever. **


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